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LETTER: Chief's personal use of vehicle questioned

Posted:
10/02/2012 10:59:07 AM EDT

I recently attended a Springettsbury Township Board of Supervisors meeting.

During the meeting, the chief of police was questioned why he and township Supervisor Mike Bowman had used a police vehicle to travel to a baseball game in Philadelphia. The chief admitted to using the police vehicle and stated that he is on call 24/7. Upon further questioning, the chief said that he had paid for the gas.

The chief acted as though what he had done was no big deal and that he was entitled to use the car as he deemed appropriate. The chief also was quite rude while addressing Supervisor Julie Landis, as she pointed out that using the township vehicle for personal use is a violation of his contract and township policy as relating to the use of township vehicles. The chief was visibly agitated and left the meeting.

As a resident of the township, this was quite upsetting. I contacted a township supervisor and asked what had become of this matter. I was told that the township manager conducted an inquiry and that the chief was issued an verbal warning. The manager said the chief was only given a verbal reprimand because the chief told him he didn't understand the policy. The manager would not verify if the chief had provided a receipt to show he had purchased the gas for the trip.

The chief of police is being paid $100,000 annually to make critical decisions within our police department and doesn't understand the difference between township business and personal use?

I found this entire incident very disturbing. I also feel that the inquiry by the manager was handled quite poorly.

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Perhaps the new chief should take his arrogant attitude back to Philadelphia.